To Serve The Light
by ExactChase
Summary: Betrayed and left for dead, Ruby is taken in by the Assassin Brotherhood; a secret organization that has existed since the dawn of time. They reveal to her that those who betrayed her were Templars; the Assassins' age old enemy. [Rated M for blood and gore]
1. Prologue

**A/N: With Killer With Standards coming to a close, I thought that I need to fill that void with a new story, one that I just can't get out of my head. This issue has caused me to have trouble writing The One Who Knocks and General's Fall, and trust** **me, I've tried. Anyway, here it is…**

Ruby laid on the cold, stone floor, trying to purge her mouth of the awful iron taste that continually seeped from her lips. She spit the blood away, causing it to spatter across the ground beside her.

Her hands were covered in her own blood, blood that continually poured from the wound on her chest. She should have died by now, yet here she was, clinging to her fading life.

The amount of blood in Ruby's mouth affected her breathing, causing her to begin choking on it and coughing. This did not last long, as the coughing ejected the red liquid.

Was she really about to die?

This question was answered almost immediately, as a figure ran to Ruby's side, and began to press down on the wound. The young girl strained to recognize the figure, yet failed due to her vision becoming blurry and the beaked, red and white hood that shrouded their face in shadows.

"Stay with me, Ruby!" The figure frantically told her. It was a woman. And she knew Ruby.

Ruby felt an overwhelming sense of tiredness beginning to overcome her body. Her vision began to darken and her rigid body began to relax.

The hooded woman began to panic, and rested her hand on Ruby's cheek.

"Don't do this!" She shouted. "Stay awake!"

Ruby managed to slightly turn her head in a futile effort to keep herself conscious, but her vision continued to darken.

Just before Ruby's vision went completely black, she heard the hooded woman faintly screaming.

"No! No! No! Stay awake!"

"I'm sorry…" Ruby managed to quietly slur.

Once her vision completely darkened, the world went silent and she saw nothing. But she did not enter a dream-like state, nor did she see a bright light. She just saw black. Ruby was not relieved of her intense pain, either. She felt what she could only presume was the hooded woman trying to shake her awake. But soon the shaking stopped, and Ruby felt some sort of pressure being applied to her shoulder blades and the backs of her knees.

And soon, her vision returned, her eyelids barely opening and exposing her tired eyes to the harsh sunlight.

The woman was carrying her through some sort of temple, the large, stone walls stretching up to the high, circular ceiling. Ornate, gold decorations lined the walls. Red and gold banners hung on the tall, stone pillars. The banners had some sort of logo on them; it seemed to be a stylistic, upside down V with a curved line underneath it. The insignia held some sort of familiarity to Ruby, but she was not in the state of mind to figure out where she had seen it before.

"Mentor?!" A foreign, unfamiliar voice called out. "Why have you brought this girl into the Sanctuary?!"

The hooded woman—the mentor—gave no response, but continued to carry the young girl down the long hallway.

"Surely you don't expect us—!"

"Silence!" The Mentor shouted. The man immediately silenced himself.

"Do not question—!" The Mentor stopped as Ruby's lungs contracted in protest of the blood that began to fill them. This caused Ruby to begin violently coughing. Blood spattered onto The Mentor's face and hood, staining the white fabric.

Without any warning, she began to run, still holding Ruby in her arms. Unfortunately, the coughing and the running caused Ruby to begin losing consciousness once again.

However, she was jolted awake as The Mentor set Ruby down on a hard, cold, metal surface.

"This girl needs medical attention!" She yelled.

Now in a stable environment, Ruby began to fall back into her deep slumber, one which she very well knew she may never wake from.

"Sedate the patient." A distant voice ordered.

Cold plastic touched Ruby's nose, and the area surrounding her mouth. The plastic smelled funny, but that was the least of Ruby's worries, as she could feel the pain fade away, the world going with it.


	2. Reunion

Ruby slowly creeped through the streets of Mountain Glenn, not only watching for Grimm, but looking for her teammates as well. They had all gotten separated from Oobleck during a small skirmish with a pack of Beowolves.

Yang had slammed a Beowulf into a nearby building, causing a lot of rubble to nearly crush her younger sister. Luckily, Ruby had quickly gotten out of the way. However, this meant that she was separated from her team with no way to communicate with them.

"There you are!" A voice called out from behind Ruby.

"Oh!" Ruby quickly turned around, jumping back when she saw the Schnee Heiress just inches away from her. "Weiss! I've been looking all over for you! Where are the others?"

Weiss sighed. "I just want to let you know; this isn't personal…"

"What isn't—?" Ruby was suddenly cut off by a sharp pain in his chest. The girl weakly coughed as her knees began to buckle, dropping her body onto the hard cement.

"I'm sorry…" Weiss quietly told her, pulling Myrtenaster from Ruby's chest.

"W-Why?" Ruby managed to squeak out.

"I'm sorry." Weiss repeated, grabbing Ruby's legs and dragging her into a nearby building. The heiress dragged Ruby up several flights of stairs before leaving her on the roof to bleed out.

"I th—" A weak cough interrupted Ruby, "I thought you were my friend…"

"I'm sorry." Weiss said again.

Even though Weiss' face said that she truly was sorry to do this to the younger girl, Ruby had a hard time believing her.

"Liar." Ruby gasped out.

The white haired girl hung her head in shame as she left Ruby on that roof, lying in a pool of her own blood.

[Shift]

"Any luck?" Yang asked Weiss, as the shorter girl entered what would be their camp for the night. Weiss solemnly nodded, and stuck her hand out to the blonde. Yang looked down at what Weiss was holding out, and nearly fainted. In the heiress' outstretched hand, was Ruby's most prized possession; Crescent Rose. The weapon was still in its compact form and was covered in blood.

Yang pressed her back against the wall, and slowly slid down until she was seated on the floor.

"Is she…?" Yang couldn't continue the sentence, she just couldn't.

"I think so…" Weiss told her. She'd have to be.

Yang moved her hands through her blonde locks.

"This is all my fault…" She sobbed.

"That's not true." Blake interjected.

"Yes it is." Yang told her. "I was the one who separated her from the rest of us, and she died because she was alone!"

"Yang," Blake said. "Sometimes bad things just happen, and it's nobody's fault when they do."

[Shift]

When Ruby regained consciousness, she could feel her body enveloped in the warmth of a blanket and the comfort of a mattress. However, when she opened her eyes, she was not greeted by the sight of her dorm room, or that of the Beacon Infirmary, but rather a room that resembled a hospital room. Yet there were others in there with her, rows and rows of beds, only some of them occupied. But none of her roommates seemed to be students, they had to be as old as Beacon's teachers. So where was she? She attempted to sit up, but was stopped by a harsh pain in her chest.

Memory of the last few hours flooded Ruby's mind and brought tears to the young girl's eyes. A hand touched hers and she jumped, turning to see who she could only assume was the woman who saved her.

"Calm, my little Rose." She told Ruby.

Ruby began to tremble slightly. She recognized the voice, but only slightly.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked. This was too good to be true. It was impossible.

The woman dropped her hood, revealing long, black and red hair, as well as bright, silver eyes. It was like looking into a mirror for Ruby. The woman looked exactly like her, yet she wore a white hood.


	3. Rest, My Child

**A/N: So, I took a little sabbatical—mainly because I was grounded—but that's beside the point. Whilst I was away, I did something I never do; I read a real book! Paperback! And I feel as though it has helped me solve many of the issues I had as a writer, mainly my depravity of sensory details, and my lack of description, so I hope** **this chapter is a lot better than** **most of the** **stuff I've done in the last year.**

Ruby stared into the deep silver eyes in front her. They pierced her soul and forced her to feel a large array of emotions; sadness, joy, relief and… anger. Ruby was angry. This was her mother, a woman for whom she had spent many days and nights grieving. Yet here she was. Alive. All sense of shock and joy faded from the younger girl's face, replaced with that of rage. The silver eyes she stared into backed up, and Ruby could now see the expression of shame upon her mother's face.

"I thought you were dead!" It took everything Ruby had not to shout, to scream at the woman.

"I know." Summer sighed. Finally, Ruby's rage took over, and she swung an angry fist. Summer easily caught her daughter's hand and held tight. "I understand that you're upset—!" Her voice was slow, the same voice that one would expect a mother to scold her child with, but her face remained it's shameful expression.

"You understand?!" Ruby threw a second punch, but Summer also caught that and moved it to the same hand she had the other, tightly squeezing Ruby's wrists together. But her expression did not change, even as the tears began to flow from Ruby's face. "You can't even begin to understand how I feel!" She sobbed. "You don't even know me!"

Summer shook her head. "I understand just fine. It's you who doesn't understand." Ruby's lip trembled as she stared at the woman, waiting for an explanation. "I did this to protect you," She began. "Your sister, and your father." Ruby's sobbing began to fade, but her breaths were still shaky and sporadic.

"From what?" The girl managed to choke out. "The White Fang?"

Summer loudly chuckled at this, serving to anger Ruby more. "No." She said. "This war— the war between the White Fang and the rest of society— has lasted but a few short years. The war I fight has been waged since before time was reckoned. And this war is not about race, or Grimm, or land, or even kingdoms. A war not about humans but about everyone, including the faunas—and whether we should be free to carve our own destiny, or be dominated by those who would control all and bend them to serve themselves."

Ruby remained silent, the exception being her sporadic breathing.

"All are affected by this war, but few know it exists." Summer's soft voice carried throughout the room, bouncing off of the walls. "I do. I am a player in it, and I am one who champions Remnant's freedom. We work in the dark to serve the light. We are Assassins." Ruby's expression changed, and she swallowed hard. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but as she opened her now dry mouth to ask a question, to help her understand, Summer continued to speak. "We learn, we watch, we target… and we eliminate threats."

"What?!" Ruby asked. "You—That's cold blooded murder!"

"The people I wished to protect you from would call it as such," her tone softened, as did her face. "But even they understand that through the carefully planned death of a single individual, thousands—perhaps tens of thousands—of true innocents can be saved."

"Who are your enemies?" Ruby didn't understand. It sounded like raving lunacy at best, calculated murder at worst—and yet something inside her seemed to understand. Enough to ask questions, at least.

"They are called the Templars," Summer answered. "And I—We—stand against them on behalf of those who can't fight for themselves. Those who are not born to luxury or power. Who are helpless. The faunas, the poor, the crippled, the very young, the very old." Summer's voice was kind. "In our ranks, men and women, highborn and low, faunas and human—we are all members of the Brotherhood. All who wear the Hidden Blades are my equals."

"And… The Templars? Do you mean the Knights Templar? The Arcs and Schnees? The Order was dissolved, wasn't it? After the Great War?"

Summer smiled kindly, "So you are getting a good education at Beacon! The Order was dissolved… as far as the world knows," she said. "When the Arc Family left, the remaining members dropped out of sight, and the Schnee Family claimed to have abandoned it as well. But they kept The Order alive, quietly. And now, they are striving to rebuild it. It is no longer public, but it has grown over the past eighty years. The Templars are always hungry for power. Which is why the war still continues, and why I felt the need to protect my only daughter from those who might try to harm her."

Summer released Ruby's hands, gently setting them atop the girl's lap. But Ruby didn't speak, she just continued to stare at her mother, whom, just a few days prior she had thought to be dead. And her face gave no indication of what she was thinking. But soon enough, the young girl lunged forward, bringing the older woman into a tight hug. It ended quickly, with Ruby hissing in pain and returning to her former position, laying on the bed. Her hand moved to her chest as she visibly shook from the intense pain.

"You do remember what happened, don't you?" Summer asked. "And why I can no longer afford to distance myself from you?"

"The Templars tried to kill me?" Summer nodded. It hurt to remember Weiss' attack, but Ruby couldn't stop herself.

"Your friends grieve your apparent death," Summer began. "And it pains me to tell you that we must keep it that way." Ruby shook her head.

"No…" She was weary from the events of the past twenty four hours, and felt as though rest was necessary. But she would not let herself fall asleep. Not now.

"It is only temporary," Summer's voice began to fade. "They will learn of Schnee's betrayal before her death, that I can assure you." Summer stood and Ruby jerked back into a state of full consciousness. Summer smiled again. "Rest my child. You will need it."


	4. The Assassin's Creed

The next time Ruby awoke, Summer was not there, but rather a strange man whom Ruby did not recognize. He wore an outfit very similar to Summer's, and so his face was concealed by the same beaked hood that Ruby had seen Summer wearing not too long ago.

"The Mentor calls for you, girl. Rise." His voice was deep and scratchy, much like Qrow's. But this was not Qrow, that was for sure. The man helped Ruby sit up, then spoke once more, "Mentore has prepared something for you to wear." He motioned to the seat where Summer had sat earlier, and in it was a pile of light grey and red fabric. In front of the chair, on the floor were two brown leather, knee high boots.

The man exited the room and Ruby slowly pushed herself to the edge of the bed, careful not to reopen her wound. She carefully got dressed, somehow avoiding too many spikes in pain from her wound. She didn't know how long it had been since she received it, but if her mother believed that she was ready to move about, then she was probably fine.

Once Ruby got the robes on, she noticed that they were very similar to what she had seen Summer and that man wearing, except they were a lot more barren than what she had seen the others wearing. These were clearly the robes of a novice. The light grey robes covered her torso and most of her legs, a pair of similarly colored pants covered the rest, meeting the boots at the knees. The robes went all the way to her knees in the back, however the front just barely covered her thighs. The only areas that weren't light grey were the areas where there were darker grey stripes, they lined the sides of the robes at the hem, and stretched all the way up to her shoulders. The robes were held closed by a red sash that was tied around Ruby's waist. There was a leather belt shaped like a Y stop of that, and some kind of sheath wrapped around her chest. Lastly, there were thin, brown leather gloves, which Ruby opted to slide onto her belt for now. The only other piece of the outfit Ruby left off was the hood, as she did not see a reason to don it just yet.

Now completely dressed, Ruby stepped out of the small room, where the man was waiting.

"Follow." He commanded, slowly walking away. Ruby had a hard time keeping up as he led her past the many rooms just like hers, as her wound still hurt her. But he did not slow for her. He led her back into the room she had seen before, when Summer brought her in, at least that's how it seemed. The room was identical to the other, but there was no entrance, so it must have been a separate room.

Ruby's leather boots made no noise as she slowly staggered down the red carpet path. The carpet stretched across the length of the large room, intricate and ornate candle stands holding it in place and illuminating the stone room in dim flickering light. Large, stone columns stood tall, reaching for the ceiling and convening in beautiful archways that were bathed in darkness. Occasional flickers of light revealed such arches, as well as an unlit chandelier.

None of this scenery seemed important to Ruby, all that she could focus on was the woman sitting at a wooden desk at the end of the path, elevated by a short platform that was covered in the same red carpet that served as a path. The man's feet stopped just in front of the platform and he kneeled, so Ruby quickly decided to do the same.

"Il Mentore," he said, removing his hood. The man had plain black hair, tied into a short ponytail behind his head. His face was covered in a short goatee with a beard coming in around it. On the right side of his upper lip was a scar that stretched down to his lower lip.

Summer looked up and he stood, so Ruby did as well. "You may go." She told the man. He pulled his hood back over his head and quickly retreated back down the path, disappearing behind a pair of large, wooden doors that closed with an echoing thud. This caused Ruby to jump, but Summer did not, no doubt because she had anticipated such a noise.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake." Summer told her, rising from her desk and smiling kindly.

"I take it that you're in charge here?" Ruby asked, trying not to sound as though she was in pain. Summer simply nodded.

"Those robes suit you." She told Ruby. "We'll make an assassin out of you yet."

"When do I start?" Ruby asked.

"You're training will begin as soon as I grant you a Hidden Blade." Summer told her. Ruby opened her mouth to ask another question, but Summer spoke yet again. "You will receive one once you learn the Assassin's Creed."

"Alright." Ruby nodded.

"The first; Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. Our goal is to ensure peace in all things, however, the only way to achieve such peace is through the death of the corrupt. And with the absence of the corrupt, we shall bring not only that, but with it security to the common folk. Slaying innocents that did not need to be slain could spread strife and discord, in addition to ruining our fine name.

"The second; Hide in plain sight. Be unseen. Our goal is to get close to our targets stealthily. The greatest illusion from such assassinations is that we seemingly materialize out of thin air, killed a corrupt figure, then vanished into the crowd.

"Lastly; Never compromise The Brotherhood. The actions of one must never bring harm to all. The actions of one must never bring harm to all. If an Assassin fails in his or her duty, and is captured or chased, he or she must never commit any action or say anything that could be tied back to the Brotherhood, or bring harm to any member of it. Do you swear to abide by such rules?"

Ruby nodded. "Good," Summer said. "But this does not make you an assassin. You must earn such a title." Ruby nodded again. She understood the practice of earning a rank? But she had yet to do in a military situation, which the Assassins seemed to very well be; a military organization. Like the Hunters, but much more secretive, but instead of fighting the Grimm, they fought the rich, and the corrupt. It seemed a much more noble cause, doing all this good and expecting nothing in return. They wanted nothing more than to help people. Just like Ruby had always wanted. The killing seemed immoral, like injustice….

Yet again, Ruby lived in a society where a killer's punishment was death. So how was this any different? They sought justice. And justice they would find, with or without Ruby's aid.


	5. Training Day

Ruby's muscles ached as she tiredly stretched them. Her week had been a rough one, training all day everyday until she collapsed. But Ruby didn't mind. Not only did she see the necessity of it, but she was also just glad to have time to spend with her mother. Summer had been acting as Ruby's mentor, teaching the girl the finer points of the Assassin's Creed. The Brotherhood was physically demanding, even for someone like Ruby, who had spent most of her life fighting and learning to fight. It made Ruby wonder how anyone who hadn't would have been able to complete the training process. Yet there were many who had, according to Summer.

Ruby scanned the leather straps that secured a blade to her wrist. It had been the first weapon that they had awarded her, and yet it was only the novice's Hidden Blade. The ones that Ruby had seen other Assassins wearing were entire gauntlets, stretching almost all the way to their elbows. Some had two, and others only had one. Ruby only had one, and she was getting good at using it in combat, as well as stealth. As a part of her training with the Hidden Blade,

Her training also included learning to fight with all sorts of weapons; guns, swords, axes, and whatever else an Assassin might have to use in the field. Improvisation was a necessary skill.

But as Summer had soon discovered; Ruby's weaknesses lied in hand to hand combat. She was very proud of how proficient her beloved daughter was in almost every form of weaponry, which was a byproduct of Ruby's lifelong love for weapons. That did not stop her from continually using Ruby's weaknesses as lessons. Everything was a lesson. Because everything had something to teach. Everyone and everything had a story and every story contained a lesson.

Not only had Summer taught Ruby how to fight in every way the girl didn't already know how—even if her hand-to-hand combat training was progressing rather slowly—she had also began teaching Ruby how to traverse any obstacle; "free running" as it was more commonly known.

[Shift]

Weiss' hands idly shook as she tearfully stared at the image of her father her on her scroll.

"Why?" She shakily asked him. "She was a friend. My best friend. She trusted me."

Jacques loudly scoffed at his youngest daughter, "A childish, mutual and naive trust." He spat. "Had you actually done your research on the enemy; you would have done it without having been asked."

"I knew of the mother." Weiss told him. "But Ruby was the last of The Bloodline and knew nothing of her mother's Order."

Weiss had no original intention of following her father's orders—to kill her leader—but the fear of what would happen to her if she didn't overcame her and she did so with little care for her team. Her friends. Part of her wanted to admit to them what she had done, and receive her well deserved punishment, but the same selfish fear that made her kill her leader prevented her from confessing.

"The Bloodline required cleansing." Jacques simply said. A wicked smile spread across his face, "and you needed to be initiated into The Order. Two birds with one stone." He let out a dark chuckle that filled Weiss with an ungodly rage. But she dared not say anything. She knew what happened to defectors. Her name and the blood on her hands made her a likely target for the Assassins and she was not about to make enemies with The Templars on top of that. To be their common enemy would be a certain death.

Part of Weiss just wanted her father's enemy to find her and punish her for what she had done to her friend. Her leader. Another part of her wanted Yang to do it: To provide her with the death she so badly deserved. But she knew full well what would happen to Yang if she did. Where would that leave Blake? No leader. No partner and no team. Her friends would have all killed one another because of who their parents were.

[Shift]

Ruby was a very quick learner, Summer would give her daughter that much. Or perhaps it was a natural skill. The Mentor did not care which it was, but was immensely proud that their basic combat training had only taken a few weeks. Summer's maternal instincts refused to let Ruby do much more than the basics, given her very recent chest injury. As Ruby's leader, she knew the girl needed to be ready, but as her mother, she did not want to risk reopening the wound.

Despite having faked her death and allowing Ruby to think she was dead for fifteen years, Summer cared deeply about her daughter. More than she could ever care for any human being. It filled her with a motherly rage that the Templars would go after Ruby. Summer never wanted the Assassin life for her little girl, but the Templars had made an attempt on Ruby's life. Such evil offered no mercy. Not for the innocent and certainly not for children. They would massacre entire cities and wipe out entire races if it furthered their own goals.

As Summer watched Ruby practice the freerunning course, she chuckled to herself. Ruby was intent on setting the record within the Brotherhood.

"She reminds me of you when you were her age." A female voice told Summer. The woman didn't need to turn to know who it was.

"You're early, Sienna." She said, fighting the smallest smile. Sienna Khan was Summer's oldest friend and a fellow Mentor in the Brotherhood. Summer had trained with her from the day they could fight until she became STRQ's leader. It had been truly unfortunate that Sienna had never had the chance to meet Summer's daughter before they were both called to take up roles as Mentors within the Assassin Brotherhood. One in Menagerie, the other in Argus.

Ruby had been truly lucky that her mother had been in Vale on business when the Templars struck. Even more so that the Brotherhood had a fortress near Mountain Glenn. It was because of this that Ruby was still alive. Summer would never have recovered if her only daughter had died.

"I'm glad you were able to save her, Summer." Sienna said, "But you should have sent someone else to watch her. You shouldn't have risked Raven, Yang, or even Schnee finding out you're not dead."

"Raven?" Summer asked, turning. Raven never left her tribe. Why would she have been anywhere near Mountain Glenn?

"Adam tells me that she was on the train."

"Adam?" Summer scoffed. "You still trust that psychopath?"

"No." Sienna scowled, "especially not after The Breach."

"The Creed calls for Taurus to be excommunicated." Summer told her faunas friend.

"The boy has been trying to undermine the power of the Brotherhood for years now. His mind is clouded by the spiteful agenda of a terrorist."

"An eye for an eye makes the world blind." Summer recited. It was something her own mentor had told her time and time again. "I want equality for the faunas just as much as anyone, but Adam is certainly resetting all of the progress Belladonna made." Sienna simply nodded, cutting the conversation short as Ruby approached.

"Madre," the girl asked, "chi è questo?"

"Valean, dear." Summer told her daughter, turning back to Sienna, "I've been teaching her the native tongues of Remnant." She explained.

"She's certainly a fast learner." Sienna said

"You wouldn't believe how quickly she's progressing." Summer proudly said. Sienna chuckled.

"Who is our guest?" Ruby asked, now speaking a more common tongue.

"This is an old friend of mine," Summer explained. "Mentor of the Menagerie Branch of the Brotherhood: Sienna Khan." Ruby gave a slight bow to her superior, who gave her a polite nod in return.

"I have heard a lot about you, Giovane apprendista." Sienna said. "Your mother tells me that you're an incredibly fast learner."

"Thank you, Mentore," Ruby said, "it helps that Madre is such un buon insegnante [A good teacher]."

A/N: This seems like a weird chapter, but trust me, it'll make sense soon! I just needed to establish that Ruby is fluent in the "language of Vacuo" or, as we call it in the real world, Italian.


End file.
